IELTS Listening

The IELTS listening exam is one of the sections that you will be tested on, and it is the same test for both the academic and general exams.

Listening Exam Structure

The listening exam lasts for 30 minutes and consists of four recorded conversations. There are 40 questions in total. You only listen to the recording once. The type of questions can be:

Multiple choice

Complete the sentence

Matching

Short answers

Labelling

Section 1

The first section is quite informal and is usually someone making enquiries. The example given on the official site is someone making enquiries about insurance, someone asking for information about transport, and making reservations at a hotel. There are a lot of numbers, dates, addresses, names, and prices. It is really important that you practice numbers and spelling (see tips below).

Section 2

The second section is usually one speaker discussing a topic. This usually involves advice, directions, interviews, or just generally discussion a topic.

Section 3

Section three is usually quite formal and is a discussion between two or three people. This could be a discussion about a potential course, a book, the progress of a student or students.

Section 4

This is the hardest section as an academic topic is presented by a professor. The person talks about the topic and this could be on anything, for example: Superstitions, time, history, geography etc. [divider]

Listening Tips

Know numbers, dates, addresses, and the alphabet

Part one is the easiest section but a lot of mistakes can be made here. It is important to know the alphabet well and especially be able to know the difference between the vowel sounds.